Migrant law in Pennsylvania city stricken

Court: Cities cannot enact illegal-immigrant statutes

by David G. Savage - Sept. 10, 2010 12:00 AMTribune Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - A city cannot punish employers who hire illegal immigrants or landlords who rent rooms to them, a U.S. appellate court in Philadelphia ruled Thursday, insisting that regulation of immigrants is "clearly within the exclusive domain of the federal government."

The decision strikes down an anti-immigrant ordinance adopted four years ago in Hazleton, Pa., that touched off a wave of similar measures in cities and states, including Arizona.

In July, a federal judge in Phoenix blocked much of the new Arizona law that told police to check the immigration status of those who were arrested.

The ruling is the latest to send the message that Washington - not states or localities - sets the rules on immigration.

"Deciding which aliens may live in the United States has always been the prerogative of the federal government," said Chief Judge Theodore McKee of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. "If Hazleton can regulate, as it has here, then so could every other state or locality.

"We are ... required to intervene when states and localities directly undermine the federal objectives embodied in statutes enacted by Congress."

The court's opinion cited 11 states and several municipalities that have passed similar laws to punish illegal immigrants or those who do business with them.

Most of these measures have been blocked before they could go into effect.

Omar Jadwat, an immigrant-rights lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, called Thursday's decision "a major defeat for the misguided, divisive and expensive anti-immigrant strategy that Hazleton has tried to export to the rest of the country."

"The Constitution does not allow states and cities to interfere with federal immigration laws," Jadwat added.

Hazleton is a former coal-mining center in northeastern Pennsylvania with about 30,000 residents. Mayor Lou Barletta and the City Council gained national attention in 2006 with their crackdown on immigrants.

A newly enacted ordinance would have imposed a $1,000 fine on landlords for each rental to an illegal immigrant. But a federal judge blocked the ordinance.

The city appealed to the 3rd Circuit but lost in a 3-0 decision Thursday.

The ruling is not the final word on this issue, however. In December, the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear an Arizona case to decide whether a state can take away the business licenses of companies that knowingly hire illegal immigrants.

This law, passed when Janet Napolitano was governor, was upheld by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on the grounds that states traditionally control the licensing of businesses.

The court's conservative justices may be inclined to give state and local officials more leeway to enforce their own laws on crime, employment or housing.

Hazleton's lawyers said they will appeal Thursday's decision, although the Supreme Court justices probably will take no action on the case until they decide the Arizona case early next year.

The Washington Legal Foundation helped defend Hazleton's ordinance.

One of the foundation's chief lawyers, Richard Samp, said he is optimistic the high court will uphold it.